Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great joy that I am present here today at the opening ceremony of the stand of the Hellenic Police Force, because in this way I can witness our institution marking its own presence at the International Exhibition of Thessalonica.

It is the 70^th International Exhibition this year. In the following days this will be the site of attraction for business initiatives that will bring about economic developments, while it will also be the venue where productive forces shall meet.

Let me first of all point out that the presence of the Hellenic Police Force here is neither merely formal nor purely symbolic.

The Hellenic Police Force is present here today in order to confirm that the notion of security is absolutely combined and inextricably linked with the political, social and economic life of this country.

I believe that it is of paramount importance to make this observation, since in our modern and globalized environment, security is a concept directly linked to the concepts of geopolitics and geo-economics.

Today΄s threats – either asymmetrical or not – in the international environment of security have mainly as their principal objective:

All the elements previously mentioned were not a part of the traditional definition of threats; nevertheless, they are here today and they make the concept of security, not just a theoretical concept, but a notion that has become a significant parameter and a principal precondition for peace, stability and growth at the regional, national and international level.

Security today concerns us all. It concerns the international community, the states, the governments, the societies and the citizens.

This assumption makes us responsible for managing this whole issue in an efficient but also human-focused way, so as to:

This approach constitutes the principal strategic concept adopted by the Hellenic Police Force today as to its role and as to its everyday presence and action.

It is, indeed, a fact that Greece is one of the safest countries in the world. The low levels of crime both in the context of the European Union and the international arena leave no room for an objective eye to question this reality.

The organization of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games in an environment of absolute security promoted the image of the Hellenic Police Force as one of the best Police Forces of the world.

The Olympic Games left us with a very important heritage.

The Hellenic Police Force is currently making the best out of the Olympic “acquis”, transferring the experience and know-how to countries that shall host big sports events.

We are already cooperating with China, Qatar, Brazil, South Africa, Germany, Italy and other countries, basically “exporting” the Olympic Security Model to the benefit of the international community.

Moreover, the efficient management of quite critical situations, such as the bus-hijacking case in December of the year 2004, in Attica, confirmed beyond reasonable doubt that the experience and the know-how we have acquired together with our state-of-the-art equipment have considerably upgraded the level of operational readiness and response of the Hellenic Police Force.

However, let me also underline the fact that the capabilities and the orientation of the Hellenic Police Force are not strictly limited to making the best out of the Olympic Security Model.

The challenge of efficiently dealing with crime and providing the citizens with the security they need is and will be a timeless venture for us.

We are getting on in the future, with a pragmatic, systematic and methodical approach.

We have drawn up a broad and target-oriented strategic planning, not only in the short and medium term but also in the long term.

We dispose of a flexible operational strategy of target-oriented and selective actions against crime, based on the constant mapping of crime-generating areas.

We apply modern methods to deal with complex forms of crime, such as drug dealing, human trafficking, electronic and financial crime, cross-border crime and in general all forms of organized crime.

We put into place new actions so that our Services respond to crime in a combined and coordinated manner. A very eloquent example is the implementation of the “POLIS” action plan, for the first time this year in the entire Greek territory, with remarkable results.

We use integrated patrolling systems of the road network in order to be more efficient in this sensitive issue of road safety and manage to reduce in a significant way road accidents and their impact.

Generally speaking, we, the Hellenic Police Force, are making every possible effort to improve even more security conditions in our country.

Needless to say that our primary objective is not solely to successfully respond to the needs of the present day, but also to rise up to the demands and challenges of tomorrow.

One of our long standing principles is to create a Police Force which will be modern, efficient and will stand close to the citizen.

We are working on the restructuring of the Police Force based on integrated planning, in order to proceed towards this direction and build the foundations for our future perspectives.

This restructuring includes the following, among others:

In the context of restructuring the Services of the Hellenic Police Force and in order to give you specific examples, I would just like to mention the set up and operation of the following new Divisions:

In particular, as far as the district of Thessalonica is concerned, the restructuring plan includes among others, the set up of the following services:

In addition to that,

At this point I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the new institution of “Community Police Officer” will first be implemented here, in Thessalonica. This new institution is the proof in practice that the Hellenic Police Force is breathing life into its motto “no Municipality, no Community without permanent police presence”.

This is a very significant part of the restructuring process and we intend to increase our forces in the area of Thessalonica, to upgrade the quality of our services and to considerably increase the sense of security for the citizens.

Thessalonica can and must promote itself as the bastion of stability, security and growth in the greater Balkans.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The restructuring process will not stop at Thessalonica. We are getting on, taking strong steps to restructure our Services in the entire Greek territory.

This is the investment we need to make to secure the future of the Hellenic Police Force.

We all know very well how high expectations on our behalf are.

We intend to make people have even higher expectations from us.

Greece is and shall continue to be one of the safest countries in the world.

With this final commitment, let me invite you Mr. Minister to proceed to the opening of the Hellenic Police Force Stand.